Explaining Bill Barr
One of the most famous quotes of the Vietnam War was published in an AP story by Peter Arnett on February 7, 1968. Describing an operation at the village of Ben Tre, an unnamed American army major said, “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”
It was a sentence that seemed to capture the insanity of American policy with respect to the whole Vietnam War. It also explains the insanity of Bill Barr’s support of Donald Trump for president.
Bill Barr is prepared to destroy the country to save it from progressive policies.
He knows that Trump is a danger to democracy. He accused him of “abuse of power,” called his claims of voter fraud that denied him victory as “bullshit” and compared a second Trump term to the country playing “Russian roulette.” Yet, he has declared that he will vote for Trump because the “progressive agenda” is even more dangerous.
One wonders what progressive policies are so threatening to America? Student loan forgiveness? Infrastructure spending? Child development subsidies? Reproductive healthcare for women? (Yeah, that’s probably it).
In a way, his position on the presidential race is a huge compliment to Joe Biden. He said, “I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country.” He’s betting that Trump’s incompetence will save us…again. While that may have saved us in his first term, the team around Trump this time will be fully prepared to impose authoritarian rule in the second term. While Trump is busy nursing and massaging his many grievances, his army of wannabe-be fascists will be relentlessly dismantling the “administrative state.”
What Barr really fears more than Biden’s ideology is his effectiveness. Biden gets shit done!
That’s why Barr is willing to debase himself before Trump. Trump has rewarded Barr for his endorsement with ruthless ridicule. Here’s Trump’s thank you note:
“Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for President despite the fact that I called him ‘Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy’ (New York Post!),” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word ‘Lethargic’ from my statement. Thank you Bill.”
Fortunately, nobody really cares what Bill Barr thinks about the presidential race. The rest of us just have to make damn sure that Biden wins.
Category: Politics